Pictured is where the bike lane on 5th Street S.W. ends south of 17th Avenue S.W. A group of cyclists is asking the city to extend the cycle track south to reach the Elbow River Pathway. Azin Ghaffari / Postmedia

Kevin Schlauch has had enough close calls with vehicles while biking along 5th Street S.W.

A cyclist who lives in the Beltline neighbourhood, Schlauch bikes to and from work each day, making use of the city’s downtown cycle track network. But he’s had to make adjustments to his daily route because of what he calls a small, yet dangerous stretch where the path suddenly breaks.

That’s along 5th Street, where the track ends at 17th Avenue.

To Schlauch, whose commute then takes him about 10 blocks south to the Elbow River Pathway, the lack of cycling infrastructure in between is troublesome.

“That is a treacherous stretch,” he said of the area, which spans less than a kilometre. “It’s the area I’ve come the closest to getting hit by vehicles.”

Schlauch has launched a petition asking the city to connect the 5th Street track south past 17th Avenue to the river pathway. He said the extension would be a “no-brainer.”

Cyclist Kevin Schlauch is collecting signatures on a petition which calls on the city to extend the 5th Street S.W. cycle track south by 10 blocks to connect with the Elbow River Pathway.

It’s not just a matter of convenience. Schlauch said the narrow stretch of road is often treated like a “drag strip” by vehicle drivers, zipping past bikers who have little room to manoeuvre.

On more than one occasion, he said he’s had to hammer his brakes to avoid getting sideswiped.

“I’m confident biking to and from my destination. I bike safely and predictably, but 5th (Street) is not worth it,” said Schlauch.

“It’s easier to bike down 4th (Street) and watch out for getting doored than it is to bike down 5th and worry about getting sideswiped by an SUV. Right now I avoid 5th because it’s not safe.”

Schlauch has collected more than 250 signatures, while 16 local businesses are also hosting his petition. He plans to deliver the entire collection of signatures to Coun. Evan Woolley’s office in attempt to convince the city to get on board with the idea.

On Twitter, Woolley said he’s had “early conversations” with the city about a possible extension to the cycle track. He said it would be an “improvement” to the street, but that the matter is complicated by issues of “road width and current uses.”

But the city is open to extending the street’s bike lane as it looks to update its citywide network, according to Kim Fisher, the city’s active transportation education planner.

“It’s something we’re looking at. We don’t have plans in the near future, but it’s something that’s on our radar,” Fisher said.

“Through some of the network analysis we’ve done, 5th Street south has been identified as a corridor that is on our list of projects.”

Pictured is where the bike lane on 5 Street S.W. ends south of 17 Avenue S.W.Azin Ghaffari /
Postmedia

Conversations would need to be had with community members and cyclists in order to explore potential changes to parking and widening of the road, she said.

Starting next month, a bylaw will also be in effect requiring drivers travelling up to 60 kilometres per hour to provide cyclists with at least one metre of space when passing them.

Fisher said the “interim” measure would help improve safety for cyclists forced to ride next to cars in absence of a separated bike lane.

Schlauch called the city’s cycle track network, still a “work in progress.”

“It is narrow right now but people are biking on it anyways. I’d hate to have to wait for a tragic incident for the city to do something about it. This is an opportunity for the city to be proactive rather than reactive.”

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